Return of the prodigal police Thunderbolt

I was wondering if any of your readers can remember Jack Plowright Motorcycles in Mill Street Trowbridge?

I worked for Jack as a motorcycle mechanic from 1979 to 1984 when he closed the business down. We were Honda and Suzuki dealers but he was an ex-Enfield works rider and won lots of awards and cups for trials, grass track and road racing

I remember some of the things he told me about, including those from his experiences being a trainer for despatch riders in Cumbria. One was him telling an official from Associated Motorcycles that AMC was responsible for more British servicemen’s deaths than the German army, due to the front fork design of the WD G3l which exposed the fork spring when airborne, due to the fork shroud above the seal being too short and then jamming on the fork spring shroud on landing, subsequently locking the fork and throwing the rider over the handlebars and usually breaking his neck!

He was an excellent boss who did not suffer fools gladly. He once was asked by a customer what was it like commuting to work on a Honda Express moped and his reply was “Imagine going to work on an egg timer…”

I feel extremely glad to have worked for him and would not have changed a thing if I had my time over again. I was wondering if any of the readers have any photos of the shop as I have very little and remember someone taking a photo of all the staff outside the shop

When I was made redundant, I got a job in Bob Missen Motorcycles at Melksham, working for Keith Dobson, who was the most honest trader that I have ever met and a wonderful boss. The job was like a social event every day with customers who became good friends to this day.

I am now a self-employed, semi-retired motorcycle mechanic specialising in aircooled BMW twins.

I hope some of the OBM readers can help.

I am a retired police officer and a rider since 1966. I was looking for a classic when I saw a BSA Thunderbolt advertised near Taunton.

The ad said it was an ex-police bike and I saw the number was KAX, which was a Monmouthshire number, where I live. I remember the BSAs in our bike section but not this this particular bike. I ended up buying it and traced its history as far as I could.

It started life with the Monmouthshire Constabulary and was one of three in the batch, and in 1969 Monmouthshire and Newport amalgamated to form the new Gwent Constabulary, which I joined shortly afterwards.

In our force, bikes were allocated to individual officers and mine was the mount of the late Paul 'Bootsie' Heaton. Paul has written a number of traffic-related books, including ones about our local haulier, Wynns Heavy Haulage of Newport, with whom he had many dealings while escorting their huge vehicles through our police area.

He also wrote a book called “Not all coppers are ******** ” which tells of his adventures, and chronicles his police career. I managed to get a copy and my bike, along with many others, is mentioned.

I also advertised in our Gwent Police pensioners’ mag for info on the bike and had a very good response from ex-colleagues with reminiscences and photos from many years ago and now have a nice history of the vehicle.

It has had a few owners in its 54-year life, and when I bought it it had been civilianised, probably many years ago. It needed a cosmetic overhaul when I bought it last August and over the winter I spent some time on it. It’s had new wheel rims and spokes (Central Wheel Components), seat beautifully covered by Leightons (front cover of OBM), paintwork by a local company (Mostyn Lewis, a family friend) some rechroming, new silencers etc. The bike has been standing since last August and, due to a faulty trickle charger, the battery was beyond help. Ray Cowles Motorcycles of Pontypool provided a new battery, Selwyn Griffiths at the bike shop was a well-known TT rider in the 1950s and 60s riding Matchless and AJS machinery. Selwyn’s son Jason is also a TT rider and has a bike dealership on the Isle of Man.

Anyway, I replaced the battery and stole some petrol from my mower, crossed my fingers and started kicking it over. To my amazement it started on the fourth kick, and sounds beautiful. Just waiting for this lockdown to end before insuring it and giving it a run.

Here in Wales we are still in lockdown so don’t know when my first ride is going to be.

I attach some pictures, one being Paul, one being the fleet of BSAs and the last is how the bike looks now. It is not a bike that is in concours condition, or has the correct bolts and screws, and neither is it meant to be kept in the front room and polished to death!